[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 56 (Tuesday, April 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H2664-H2668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUPPORTING THE MISSION AND GOALS OF 2010 NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS' RIGHTS
WEEK
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 1104) supporting the mission and goals of 2010
National Crime Victims' Rights Week to increase public awareness of the
rights, needs, and concerns of victims and survivors of crime in the
United States, no matter their country of origin or their creed, and to
commemorate the National Crime Victims' Rights Week theme of ``Crime
Victims' Rights: Fairness. Dignity. Respect.''
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1104
Whereas over 25,000,000 individuals in the United States
are victims of crime each year, including over 6,000,000
individuals who are victims of violent crime;
Whereas a just society acknowledges the impact of crime on
individuals, families, neighborhoods, and communities by
ensuring that rights, resources, and services are available
to help rebuild the lives of victims;
Whereas although our Nation has steadily expanded rights,
protections, and services for victims of crime, too many
victims are still not able to realize the hope and promise of
these expanded rights, protections, and services;
Whereas despite impressive accomplishments over the past 40
years in crime victims' rights and services, there remain
many challenges to ensuring that all victims--
(1) are treated with fairness, dignity, and respect;
(2) are offered support and services regardless of whether
they report the crimes committed against them to law
enforcement; and
(3) are recognized as key participants in our system of
justice when such crimes are reported;
Whereas justice systems in the United States should ensure
that services are available for all victims of crime,
including victims from underserved communities of our Nation;
Whereas observing victims' rights and treating victims with
fairness, dignity, and respect serve the public interest by
engaging victims in the justice system, inspiring respect for
public authorities, and promoting confidence in public
safety;
Whereas individuals in the United States recognize that our
homes, neighborhoods, and communities are made safer and
stronger by identifying and meeting the needs of crime
victims and ensuring justice for all;
Whereas treating victims of crime with fairness, dignity,
and respect, as encouraged and expressed by the theme of 2010
National Crime Victims' Right Week, ``Crime Victims' Rights:
Fairness. Dignity. Respect.'', costs nothing more than taking
time to identify victims' needs and concerns, and effective
collaboration among justice systems to meet such needs and
concerns; and
Whereas 2010 National Crime Victims' Rights Week, April 18
through April 24, 2010, provides an opportunity for justice
systems in the United States to strive to reach the goal of
justice for all by ensuring that all victims are afforded
legal rights and provided with assistance as they face the
financial, physical, spiritual, psychological, and social
impact of crime: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the mission and goals of 2010 National Crime
Victims' Rights Week to increase public awareness of--
(A) the impact on victims and survivors of crime; and
(B) the constitutional and statutory rights and needs of
such victims and survivors;
(2) recognizes that fairness, dignity, and respect comprise
the very foundation of how victims and survivors of crime
should be treated; and
(3) directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to
transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the Office
for Victims of Crime within the Office of Justice Programs of
the Department of Justice.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr Cohen) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) each will
control 20 minutes.
[[Page H2665]]
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
General Leave
Mr. COHEN. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5
legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Tennessee?
There was no objection.
Mr. COHEN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 1104 supports the goals and mission of
National Crime Victims' Rights Week, celebrated this week, April 18
through 24.
This year's National Crime Victims' Rights Week theme is ``Crime
Victims' Rights: Fairness. Dignity. Respect.''
Every April individuals in communities across the country, with the
support of the Department of Justice's Office of Victims of Crime,
observe National Crime Victims' Rights Week. Rallies, candle-light
vigils and many other commemorative events honor crime victims during
this observance of victims' rights.
National Crime Victims' Rights Week is observed to highlight the
special needs of more than 21 million victims of crime and survivors of
crime each year, including over 5 million victims of violent crime.
Although the number of murder victims in 2008 fell by almost 4 percent
from the previous year, we must remain vigilant in this fight against
violent crime.
During this week in April, we take time out to ensure that resources
and services are available to help crime victims rebuild their lives
and to acknowledge the impact of crime on individuals, families, and
communities.
Crime victims suffer not only from the losses that directly result
from the crime, but also from the emotional trauma of being victimized.
In 2007, total economic loss to victims across the country was $2
billion for violent crime and $16 billion for property crime. This week
is also a time to make a commitment to providing more resources to
victims of crimes committed in the workplace, in schools, and on
college campuses.
{time} 1515
In addition, we should pay special attention to children and elderly
victims of crime.
National Crime Victims' Rights Week is an occasion to support crime
victims. If we don't make a commitment to treating victims with the
fairness, dignity, and respect they deserve, it makes it even more
difficult for them to heal.
For all these important reasons, I urge my colleagues to support this
important resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleague and friend from
California (Mr. Costa) as original cosponsors of this resolution to
recognize and support the mission and goals of National Crime Victims'
Rights Week.
I want to thank Mr. Costa for his work on the Victims' Rights Caucus.
California, from where he comes, is the State that started the victims
rights movement. While Mr. Costa was in the California legislature, he
presented and sponsored the Three Strikes law and also victim
notification in that State. He and I are co-chairs of the Victims'
Rights Caucus, and this caucus is comprised of 62 members from both
sides of the aisle who are dedicated to protecting the interests and
needs of crime victims in our Nation. Crime issues are not partisan
issues, they are people issues. They don't recognize borders or
district boundaries. They affect everybody in this country.
National Crime Victims' Rights Week began in 1980, when President
Reagan first called for a national observance to recognize and honor
the millions of crime victims and survivors in our country. Victims'
Rights Week also pays tribute to the thousands of victim service
providers and professionals who provide critical support to victims
throughout our country every day. The theme of this year's National
Crime Victims' Rights Week is ``Crime Victims' Rights: Fairness.
Dignity. Respect.''
Mr. Speaker, crime touches all of us and all of our friends and all
of our neighbors. It happens in every State and every district. It has
many forms. In 2008, 21 million crimes were committed in the United
States. Of these, 5 million were violent crimes, 16 million were
property crimes, and there were over 11,000 alcohol-impaired driving
fatalities in 2006. In 2008, the incidence of identity fraud rose for
the first time in nearly 5 years to 10 million victims here in the
United States.
Crime victims are not just statistics, they are real people, real
men, women and children, their families, their loved ones. What are we
doing to help them? Well, we are raising awareness and highlighting
issues important to victims. We are also protecting critical programs
that are already in existence. Many of these programs were created by
the landmark bill passed in 1984 called the Victims of Crime Act, or
VOCA. This law created the VOCA fund. It's a novel concept where
criminals who are convicted and sent to our Federal penitentiaries
donate into a fund. That fund then is used for crime victims and crime-
victim-related organizations throughout the United States.
This fund requires criminals to pay for the crimes they have
committed. This money then pays for the rent on the courthouse, so to
speak, pays for medical expenses of the victim, and sometimes it covers
the victims' funeral costs. This is money that is funded solely by
criminals, it is not taxpayer money, and the money should be always
used for victims of crime.
VOCA is the only Federal fund that caters to the needs of victims.
Each year, over 4,400 agencies, 10,000 victim assistance programs, and
about 4 million victims receive support and financial compensation from
this fund whose coffers are filled by criminals who are sent to our
penitentiaries.
The Office of Management and Budget estimates that the Crime Victims
Fund in 2011 will have $4.3 billion, with an additional $1 billion to
be deposited during the year of 2011. This money is solely for the
victims of crime, funded with money paid by criminals who cause
criminal conduct. We should make sure that this money stays with the
victims and is not taken by our Federal bureaucrats and used for other
pet projects.
Mr. Speaker, crime victims are real people who have survived
sometimes gruesome acts of violence. Their voices must not be excluded
from our criminal justice system. The criminal justice system should be
justice not only for defendants of crime, but victims of crime as well.
As we take the opportunity to honor victims and their courage and
their memories, we renew our commitment to protect the rights of crime
victims and provide them with effective assistance programs. We also
commend the countless professionals and volunteers who have dedicated
their lives to help crime victims and survivors of crime.
I urge support of this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from California, my colleague in the National Conference of
State Legislatures and my colleague here in Congress and the author of
this resolution, Mr. Costa.
Mr. COSTA. I want to thank the gentleman from Tennessee, my colleague
and good friend, Representative Cohen, for his hard work not only on
behalf of the people of Tennessee, but our Nation, in ensuring that
good work is done. I do appreciate serving with you.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1104, to
honor the National Crime Victims' Rights Week, which occurs this week
from April 18 through April 24.
As a founder and co-chair of the Congressional Victims' Rights
Caucus, Congressman Ted Poe--who just spoke and really stated it very
clearly. He, who in a previous life served as a judge in Texas, saw
firsthand the challenges of trying to ensure that justice was served,
not just to the criminals, but to ensure that the victims of those
crimes, as he sat and listened in his court on a daily basis, were
understood and that in ways that justice needs to, that they were
reached out to. I want to congratulate my colleague, Congressman Ted
Poe, for his previous service and his service today on behalf of not
just Texans, but all Americans and those who care deeply about the
[[Page H2666]]
impacts of crime and the victims that those crimes have created.
This year, the theme is Fairness, Dignity, and Respect, three things
which all victims deserve; fairness, dignity and respect. Last week,
the Victims Rights Caucus hosted--Congressman Poe and I and other
members--the Victims Rights Caucus Award ceremony to honor six
individuals throughout the country for their outstanding
accomplishments in the field of victim services and victim advocacy.
The National Crime Victims' Rights Week helps us all to be more aware
and to acknowledge and to celebrate all the providers who are there for
victims of crime, and to support the criminal justice professionals who
provide critical assistance to victims all across our Nation.
I know, having been involved in California--as all of my colleagues
in their own respective States--that these professionals, each day, on
a 24/7 basis throughout the week, see the horrific impacts of these
crimes.
Crime knows no bounds, and crime victims deserve our support and
services to help them cope. They are our neighbors, they are our
friends, they are our family members, those who are victims of crimes.
And as was noted earlier by my colleagues, the VOCA fund that was
created by Congress in 1984 and signed into law by President Reagan has
for decades now reached out and provided necessary funds for over 4,000
organizations throughout our country to provide support for those
victims of crime.
So I want to encourage my colleagues to support this resolution to
show crime victims that we stand together in a bipartisan fashion for
that fairness, for that dignity, and for that respect, and that we will
continue to be supportive of commonsense approaches to assisting these
individuals in their time of need.
Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman
from California (Mr. Royce), who also, being from California, helped
sponsor and did sponsor the stalking awareness law in the State of
California and has brought that concept to Congress as well.
Mr. ROYCE. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
When we talk about the 5 million violent crimes that occur in this
country every year, we should be mindful of what that means in terms of
the shattered lives of the victims, those who survive and those who
don't survive; their families are shattered by this experience.
I want to take a moment and recognize someone who did a lot in
California to help change many of the laws in our State, and that is
Colleen Thompson Campbell, who lost not only her son to violent crime,
but also, in a separate case, lost her brother and sister-in-law to
murder as well.
I have had the opportunity to work with Colleen over the years. She
formed an organization called MOVE, Memories of Victims Everywhere. One
of the concepts that she had was to try, in State law, to overturn some
of the worst decisions made by the then Rose Bird Court, which we did
with Proposition 115. I was the author of that legislation. We could
not get that legislation to try to restore rights between the victims
of crime and the accused through the State legislature, so she went out
and pounded the pavement with victims' rights groups across the State.
And after gaining 1 million signatures, on the third try we were able
to pass it overwhelmingly in the State of California. But that
proposition, the Crime Victims/Speedy Trial Initiative, gave victims
the right to a speedy trial, it gave those victims an opportunity to
testify, it increased sentences, it increased punishment, it required
reciprocal discovery of evidence, tried to right that balance, it
allowed the family members of those victims to stay in the courtroom
and follow these proceedings and not be dismissed, and allowed them
also to go to the sentencing. I testified before the House Constitution
Subcommittee here some years later when we had an opportunity to mold
legislation based on what we had done in California, the victims'
rights bill that became law, codifying crime victims' rights here at
the Federal level.
I would also just like to recognize another individual who was
affected by crime, Kathleen Baty. She never even knew that the man
stalking her really had existed when she was in high school and went to
UCLA. She was running on campus, she was participating in sports. She
did not know that this individual--who she had never met--had become
obsessed with her and would take it upon himself over the next 10 years
to follow her and stalk her relentlessly and threaten her and attempt
to abduct her. It is phenomenal that it took legislation to actually
prevent this crime of stalking, but that's where the concept came from,
from this case and the case of four young women in my county of Orange
County who all died within a span of 6 weeks. Everyone had gone to law
enforcement and been told there is nothing we can do despite you being
stalked until you are attacked physically. So we passed the Anti-
Stalker law--with her testifying--at the State level, and later she
came back here and helped us with the Federal law as well.
Why with the Federal law? Because the first thing we tell victims is
to get away from your stalker. And when he gets out, or slips--as with
the case of her stalker, he cut off his ankle bracelet after he was
finally apprehended. By the way, he was apprehended on her doorstep
after a 10-hour standoff with a knife to her throat, but he had not
dragged her more than the required 1,000 feet, so it was not
kidnapping.
This is why we needed the Anti-Stalker Act, why we passed it at the
Federal level, why we have to be aware of the rights and the needs and
the concerns of victims of crime because these are the types of laws
that now we have been able to pass, as I say, in Japan and overseas as
well, in Europe. But if we look at the effect on these lives--and I
remember Kathleen Baty coming back here to tell me about how she was
never able to shake this individual--now we have the Federal law so
that if the victim crosses State lines, the perpetrator cannot cross
those State lines to pursue them.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. POE of Texas. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.
Mr. ROYCE. I will also mention the legislation that I authored in
California to put fines on those who are convicted of crimes and fund
programs in the State for victims, and we have done this at the Federal
level as well.
We need to do more to right the scales of justice; we need to do more
to balance the rights of crime victims; and lastly, what this
particular resolution here today does, we need to do more to make the
public aware of just how out of balance these scales are to the 5
million victims of crime every year in the United States.
{time} 1530
Mr. COHEN. I would just like to say I appreciate Mr. Royce's
comments.
Mr. Speaker, in Tennessee, I worked to pass an antistalking law and
was successful in doing it. They are important. Whether it's Kathleen
in southern California or Victoria in Texas, they need to be protected,
and we need to make sure we have such laws.
I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York
(Mr. Towns) to address this subject.
Mr. TOWNS. I would like to thank the gentleman from Memphis,
Tennessee, for yielding to me.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1104, commemorating
National Crime Victims' Rights Week and its theme, ``Fairness. Dignity.
Respect.'' I would also like to reflect upon a topic that is of deep
concern to me: violence against women.
Domestic violence has a profound psychological impact on victims and
survivors. There has been a 35 percent increase in domestic violence
shelter bed use since 2002. Increased shelter utilization is evidence
of the displacement and psychological havoc that domestic violence
wreaks on families. We must put a stop to this.
Nationally, one-half to two-thirds of residents in domestic violence
shelters are children. In fact, on one day in 2007, 13,485 children
were living in a domestic violence shelter or in a transitional housing
facility. Another 5,526 sought services within nonresidential programs.
Children who experience or who witness domestic violence are more
likely to become abusers or victims, themselves.
Beyond the home, violence in the form of sexual assault carries with
it similar lasting psychological and sociological effects. According to
data
[[Page H2667]]
provided by the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, 60 percent of
cases are never even reported to the police. We know that one in six
women and one in 33 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes,
with college-aged women four times more likely to be sexually
assaulted.
Both domestic violence and sexual assault have lasting implications
on the lives of victims, survivors and their families. It is important,
Mr. Speaker, while working towards crime prevention, that we continue
to treat victims and survivors of sexual assault and of domestic
violence with fairness, dignity, and respect. We must work together as
a Nation to bring awareness to these important issues so that we may
prevent further abuse.
I thank the gentleman from Memphis, Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) for
granting me the time.
Mr. POE of Texas. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, during this debate, on which we agree this legislation
should be passed, we have talked a lot about victims. The victims that
we have talked about are more than statistics. They are real people.
Before I came to Congress, I spent over 20 years on the criminal
court bench in Houston, Texas. I saw about 25,000 people come to the
courthouse who were charged with the most serious crimes in our
society. Along with those defendants came other people who didn't want
to be at the courthouse either, but they were there because they were
chosen by defendants to be prey, in many cases, and those were victims
of crime. They came to the courthouse. They were all races, all ages,
of both sexes, and of all philosophies, but crime does not discriminate
against who the victim may be.
Before I became a judge, I was a prosecutor in Houston, Texas. I
spent my last year prosecuting capital cases. In my office across the
street, I have a lot of photographs of my kids, of my four kids and of
my eight grandkids, but I also have two other photographs that have
been in my office ever since I was at the courthouse in Houston, first
as a prosecutor and then as a judge.
This is a photograph of Kevin Wanstrath. He was born the same year as
my son Kurt, but Kevin didn't have the fortune of living very long.
This photograph was taken just a few days before he was murdered.
Kevin didn't have a lot going for him when he was born. He was born
in Biloxi, Mississippi. His mother didn't want him, so she threw him in
a Dempsey Dumpster. A homeless guy found him, turned him over to
Catholic charities, and he was taken care of in that orphanage. A
couple in Houston, Texas, by the name of John and Diana Wanstrath, a
married couple, couldn't have children. They found Kevin. They adopted
him, and they made Kevin Wanstrath their child.
Unbeknownst to them, there was a relative who was plotting to kill
John and Diana Wanstrath. Under Texas law, if the parents die, the
child gets everything. On a summer night in Houston, Texas, two
individuals posing as real estate agents came to the front door of John
and Diana Wanstrath. They first shot John in the head and then shot
Diana in the head. Then while Kevin Wanstrath was asleep in his baby
bed and was curled up to his favorite little teddy bear--he had blue
terry cloth pajamas on--he was shot in the back of the head. He was
assassinated on the altar of greed.
There were four henchmen involved in that murder. It turned out that,
during the trial, we proved that there was another homicide, that Diana
Wanstrath's mother was also murdered by these henchmen.
That was a long time ago. Two of the killers received the death
penalty. Two others went to prison for a long time. But I've always
wondered what Kevin Wanstrath would turn out to be. He was 14 months
old in this photograph. He didn't get to live very long, but he was a
victim.
Today, we've talked about victims of crime, but they were and they
are, Mr. Speaker, real people, people who just wanted to live, to grow
up, to play in their backyards with their dads--things that never
happened for Kevin, for a lot of other kids in our culture and for a
lot of adults, too.
We as a Nation must understand that violence against people in this
country has to end and that people who commit crimes against children
and others, violent crimes, must be held accountable under our laws for
the choices that they make. We as a society and we as a culture are not
judged by the way we treat the rich, the famous, the powerful, the
important, the politicians. We are judged by the way we treat the weak,
the elderly, the children. That is how we are judged.
That's why this resolution and other resolutions which talk about
victims are important, so I urge all of my colleagues to support this
resolution and to remember that victims are people, too. And that's
just the way it is.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. COHEN. I appreciate the remarks of Congressman Poe, which were
obviously heartfelt.
Mr. Speaker, I think there is bipartisanship within this House in
looking out for the victims of crime and in trying to see that there
aren't more victims. Sometimes you hear speeches on the floor which are
written or which are, maybe, not as personal in nature, but what Mr.
Poe said was personal. His experience as a prosecutor and as a criminal
court judge came through, and I am privileged to have listened to that
and to be able to join in his thoughts of: That's just the way it is.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res.
1104, supporting the mission and goals of 2010 National Crime Victims'
Rights Week to increase public awareness of the rights, needs, and
concerns of victims and survivors of crime in the United States,''
introduced by my distinguished colleague from California,
Representative Costa.
The 2010 National Crime Victims' Rights Week, April 18 through April
24, 2010, will provide an opportunity for justice systems in the United
States to strive to reach the goal of justice for all by ensuring that
all victims are afforded legal rights and provided with assistance as
they face the financial, physical, spiritual, psychological, and social
impact of crime. The theme for 2010 is, ``Crime Victims'' Rights:
Fairness. Dignity. Respect.''
Although our Nation has steadily expanded rights, protections, and
services for victims of crime, too many victims are still not able to
recognize the hope and promise of these expanded rights, protections,
and services. Over 25,000 individuals in the United States are victims
of crime each year, including over 6,000,000 individuals who are
victims of violent crime.
Despite impressive accomplishments over the past 40 years in crime
victims' rights and services, there remain many challenges to ensuring
all victims--(1) treated with fairness, dignity, and respect; (2) are
offered support and services regardless of whether the crimes committed
against them to law enforcement; and (3) are recognized as key
participants in our system of justice when such crimes are reported.
Observing victims' rights and treating victims with fairness,
dignity, and respect serve the public interest by engaging victims in
the justice system, inspiring respect for public authorities, and
promoting confidence in safety. Justice systems in the United States
should ensure that services are available for all victims of crime,
including victims from underserved communities of our Nation.
A just society acknowledges the impact of crime on individuals,
families, neighborhoods, and communities by ensuring that rights,
resources, and services available to help rebuild the lives of victims.
Individuals in the United States recognize that our homes,
neighborhoods, and communities are made safer and stronger by
identifying and meeting the needs of crime victims and ensuring justice
for all. Treating victims' of crime with fairness, dignity, and respect
costs nothing more than taking time to identify victims' needs and
concerns, and effective collaboration among justice systems to meet
such needs and concerns.
I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 1104 in increasing the public
awareness of the impact on victims' and survivors of crime and the
constitutional and statutory rights and needs of victims' and
survivors. We all have an obligation in protecting the rights of all
people and ensuring that they receive the respect and dignity they
deserve.
Mr. COHEN. I ask that all of my colleagues join me in supporting this
resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1104.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
[[Page H2668]]
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
____________________